Anyone with a boss has likely dreamed of a day when they would someday have no one to report to or have to punch a clock.Working for yourself may seem ideal but it is not without its own responsibilities. Try to look beyond the possibility of having no interoffice politics and think about what you can expect when you are your own boss.Here’s an idea of some of the pros and cons of branching out on your own.Pro: There’s no one breathing down your neck. Micromanaging bosses are the worst. If you have one, you have our sympathies. It can make you hate your job, even if it’s something that you normally would enjoy.Con: There’s no one holding you accountable. This might be the hardest part of running your own business. You have to be completely self-motivated, since everything is riding on what you produce. There’s no one to tell you when or how to do a project. You have to be able to trust your own instincts and experience.Pro: Get paid for what you’re worth. You determine what your salary will be by the quality of your work and how much work you solicit. All the profits go to you since you work for yourself. You can make more money by taking on more work.Con: The pay is not guaranteed. This is a tough one for people to adjust to, when going from working for someone to working for yourself. It’s a huge gamble and it might not pay off. You could go from having expendable income to putting all you have into your business for years before turning a profit.On the positive side, if you come up with a solid business plan and work hard it may work out for you. New businesses start up every day and many of them succeed, there’s no reason why yours can’t be one of them.
Improve Your Credit Score and Get a Better Homeowner Insurance Rate
Although these data will all be used, the most significant factor in determining someone’s homeowner insurance rate is not asked for in the application form. This is the homeowner’s credit score which the insurance company will get from the credit bureau, where everybody’s credit information is stored.Generally, individuals with a higher credit score have a higher probability of getting the lowest possible homeowner insurance rate. On the other hand, if your credit score is not that great, you will be classified as a high-risk client and you will probably be stuck with a higher rate which could mean a bigger insurance premium or smaller claims in case of damage or loss.Furthermore, if your credit score is really pathetic, most conventional home insurance companies will have no choice but to reject your application right away. You will still be able to find coverage though, because there are still a number of insurance companies that take the risk of insuring poor credit clients. You do have to prepare yourself for a much costlier homeowner insurance rate.If you wish to qualify for a better homeowner insurance rate, you must try to improve your credit score as early as possible. You can start right now by going to any of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and Trans Union – and request for a copy of your most current credit report to find out what your present credit score is. Everyone is entitled to a free copy of this report once a year.In the next couple of months, make good on your credit card payments by being on time and if possible, paying more than the minimum required amount for each month. Doing this will make your credit score jump a few points, which could be enough to qualify you for a much better homeowner insurance rate.You must take note that this system of basing Homeowner Insurance rate on credit scores is done only in the United States. If you are planning to take out an insurance policy for a house outside the US, you might encounter different assessment methods so you have to do some research first to familiarize yourself with their system.In the United Kingdom for instance, they do not use credit score as part of the evaluation process. Instead, the primary factors in determining the homeowner insurance rate are merely the bits of information about the house and not the owner. This is because the UK government actually mandates that home insurance is a basic housing right and that every homeowner should have equal rights to insurance, regardless of their credit score or employment history.
Nature Photography – Five Tips For Great Rainforest Photos
Rainforest photography, like all good nature photography, is more about your sensitivity to nature than about expensive equipment. Of course you need a decent camera, and you must know how to use it. But the quality of your photos does not depend on the price tag on your camera. As long as you have a tripod, and a camera that allows you to adjust the aperture and shutter speed, you are set to go.I make my living from nature photography, including a lot of rainforest photos, and I have never relied on the latest equipment for my work. Great rainforest photography is simply about finding an eye-catching subject, in good light, and having a creative eye for composition.Note: The following tips are for photos of rainforest scenes, not for close-up photos of leaves, fungus etc.Rainforest Photography Tip #1: Choose a subject. As they say in the classics, “It’s a jungle out there.” In the rainforest, you are confronted with foliage, branches, roots, rocks, vines…in your face and all around you. A really good rainforest photo requires structure, to make some visual sense of all that clutter. Look for something that is immediately eye-catching – a big tree that dominates the trees around it; a root system that leads the eye; a waterfall or stream; in short, something that you can build a composition around.Rainforest Photography Tip #2: Use the best natural light. The mistake almost everybody makes at first is to take their rainforest photos on a bright sunny day when they are in the mood for a walk. Wrong! In full sunlight, the rainforest becomes a patchwork of light and shade that is impossible to expose properly. What you need is a cloudy day, when the light is much more even. Misty weather adds even more atmosphere to the rainforest, and can add a mysterious character to your rainforest photo.Do not use a flash. The flash illuminates the scene with flat, white light, eliminating the gentle play of natural light and shade that gives the rainforest its character. Always use the natural light.Rainforest Photography Tip #3: Carry a tripod. Taking your rainforest photo under a heavy tree canopy, on a cloudy day (see rainforest photography tip #2), means the level of light will be very low. You may be shooting at shutter speeds as slow as one or two seconds. You will always need your tripod, and it is best to avoid windy days so that the scene is as still as possible.Rainforest Photography Tip #4: Use a wide-angle lens (or a zoom lens, zoomed back to its widest angle). The wide angle lens has several advantages for rainforest photography. Firstly, it exaggerates the sense of perspective in a photo, creating a sense of three dimensional depth. Viewers of your photo will feel like they are looking not just at a rainforest, but into it. Secondly, the wide-angle lens has a naturally wide depth of field. With so much detail all around you, it is important that you can keep both the foreground and the background in focus.Rainforest Photography Tip #5: Stay on the path. There are some practical reasons for staying on the path when bushwalking. You minimize the possibility of getting lost, injured, or fined by some over-officious park ranger. The people who run the national parks are not stupid. They know what you want to see, and design their trails accordingly. Sticking to the path will not rob you of any great photo opportunities.In terms of rainforest photography, you are able to create some distance between you and the foliage around you. It is much easier to photograph a tree when you don’t have the branch of another tree in your face. By staying on the path, you can get a clear view of your subject, without interference. You can even use the path as part of the composition in your rainforest photo. It is an excellent way of inviting the viewer to join you on your walk in the rainforest.So there you have my five rainforest photography tips. Notice they concentrate on light and creativity, not on fancy techniques or equipment. You can make great improvements in all your nature photography this way, regardless of what type of camera you have.